Algorithms Suck: I just want to brighten your ten minutes!

That's all I want. It shouldn't be this hard.

So when I started my blog 10 years ago, I had two goals. Both are listed on the homepage for all to see: "It has two main functions: (1) therapy, and (2) record-keeping. Writing, for me, is highly therapeutic and far less expensive than a psychiatrist. Also, we've been counseled by our church leaders to keep a record of our lives. I'm an essayist, not a journal writer, so these blog essays are my attempt to follow that counsel."

As you can see, neither of those goals is related to readership or number of page views per post. I could meet both goals even if not one single person ever read the blog. Why would I care if people read it? I never thought I would.

But I do. For some reason, I really do.

I love it when people read the blog and tell me they enjoy it. We've already established that my skill set is woefully limited, so it's hard to find ways to serve others. I can't cook for them or make them something beautiful. I can't play the piano while they sing or sing while they play the piano. I can't take their family portraits or help them with their gardening. I can't sew for them or paint their houses. So when people enjoy reading my writing, I feel like I'm providing some sort of service, probably not enough to brighten your whole day, but maybe enough to brighten your, say, ten minutes? Even that is good.

I won't lie; watching my page views increase over the years was gratifying. When I started, posts would get maybe 20 views. I thought that was great actually. But then that increased steadily, until about a year ago when each post was averaging 200 views. Wow! Cuz I couldn't gather 200 people if I tried. Where would I find 200 people?

So I'm clipping along happily at 200ish views per post all the way until mid-October of last year. Then suddenly, and I do mean suddenly as in overnight, that number dropped to what it is now: just 40-50 page views per post. What happened? Facebook algorithms. Most people access my blog via Facebook. A few people follow the blog itself, but not many. Most just click it when it appears on Facebook.

Except now it doesn't. At least not for everyone. This all has to do with Facebook's dumb algorithms, which everyone talks about but no one seems to understand. Only certain people see my posts announcing new blog entries, but how is that determined? Number of times they comment? Number of times they "like" something? Who knows? For example, Eli still sees all my blog posts show up on Facebook, but his wife Amanda doesn't, and hasn't since (you guessed it) mid-October. Ugh!

That means most of you will not see this post. Well, okay, if you're reading it, I guess you saw it, but lots of others won't, others who used to read every single post.

This all makes me very sad. I just want to brighten your ten minutes. It shouldn't be that hard. But I can't. Because algorithms suck.